KUALA LUMPUR: Former national player Tan Chun Seang stunned two-time SEA Games champion Simon Santoso of Indonesia to march into only his second final of the year at the Vietnam Open Grand Prix Gold in Ho Chi Minh City.
Second seed Chun Seang, who is coming out from a long bout of illness, battled for one hour and three minutes to beat 2009 and 2011 SEA Games champion Simon 21-13, 14-21, 21-18 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Simon, however, has not been selected for this year’s edition in Myanmar due to the lack of good results this year.
The 27-year-old Chun Seang, an independent player under the flagship of Apacs, will take on South Korean Son Wan-ho on Sunday.
The odds are stacked against Chun Seang but he is determined to give the Korean youngster a run for his money and keep alive his hopes of winning his second title this year.
Chun Seang, who won the Canada Open in July, is just happy to be back in action.
“I’m kind of surprised with the win because Simon is in better form. I had to withdraw from the Denmark Open (in October) because of a bad cough and flu and took a long time to recover,” said Chun Seang.
“Today, I felt good on the court and it showed in my movement on court.
“It be tougher against the Korean. I have never played against him ... hopefully, it will be a good end for me.”
There was also doubles joy for Malaysia when Amelia Anscelly-Soong Fie Cho made it to the final, where they will take on top seeds Ko A-ra-Yoo Hae-won of South Korea.
In the Carlton Irish Open in Dublin, Malaysia’s hopes of a double were dashed when the Ng sisters – Hu Lin-Hui Ern – lost 17-21, 10-21 to Eefje Musken-Selena Park of Holland in the women’s doubles final.
In the men’s singles final, Misbun Ramdan Misbun will face lanky Dieter Domke of Germany for his fourth title of the season.
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